Outdoor Fun

Veronika found the other dolls watching a movie on the tablet. 

"Let's go outdoors," she suggested. 

"We're watching 'Toy Story,'" Jolena said.
"We own that movie," Veronika pointed out. "We can watch it any time. It's a lovely day. Let's go out and play, while the weather is nice."

The dolls climbed down and put on their shoes.
"Wait," cried Charlotte. "I need to fix my hair."

But the others were already out the door, so Charlotte put down the hair brush and hair tie, and ran after them.

She found the others in the back yard. 

Jolena was up in a tree, looking for a place to tie up a swing, while Mandy was in the garage getting some rope and a board.

Soon they had it all ready to use. Mandy got on the swing first, because everyone thought she should, since she had found the rope and the board to sit on.

Each doll had a turn until they were tired of swinging. After Charlotte had her turn, she ran indoors to fix her hair. "From now on, I will always fix my hair when I first get up," Charlotte told herself. "That way I will be ready for fun outdoors."
"Let's leave the swing up," Mandy suggested after Charlotte came back outdoors. "Maybe we will want to use it again." The others agreed.
"What should we do now?" Jolena asked.
"Let's go for a hike!" Mandy exclaimed. "I love to watch the birds, and sometimes we see interesting animals."
Jolena and Charlotte like to wear sunglasses when they hike, so they went back into the house to get them.
Off they went along the trail. Mandy pointed out the birds and animals they saw along the way and told everyone what they were called.

It was nice that there were so many trees to give them shade. Suddenly Mandy stopped. "Look!" she cried. "It's a Stellar's Jay! I love to see them. They are pretty and smart."

"They are like you, Mandy," Veronika said. "Only you aren't blue."

Mandy would have blushed, but she couldn't make her vinyl look pinker.
Jolena watched a squirrel climb a tree and then fly through the air to land in another tree, where it sat, munching on something.

"I'm like a squirrel," she told the others. "I can climb trees, and I can fly through the air, if I'm on my skis. Well, I can't climb trees with my skis on," she added, "just the flying part."

"What animal am I like," Charlotte asked.

"That's easy," Veronika replied. "You're like a cricket who sings to us in the evening, because you make music with your violin."
Charlotte laughed. "And you're a magpie," she told Veronika. "You scold us for staying indoors to watch a movie, instead of playing outdoors in the fresh air. I'm glad you did. This is so much fun!"
"I know what we should do next," Mandy suggested, after they returned from their hike. "I know we have a jumprope in the toy box. Let's go out to the street and jump rope for a while."
The dolls took the jumprope from the toy box and went out to the front of the house. They found a place where they could play and be safe from cars. It's a parking space in front of the house. No one drives there unless they plan to park.

Charlotte went first. As she jumped, she chanted a little rhyme.

Mabel, Mabel, well and able,
get your elbows off the table!
This is not a horse's stable,
but a first-class dining table.

"You know," said Veronika when Charlotte's turn was over. "That rhyme is a little rude. It would hurt my feelings if I were Mabel."

"Let's try to change it to be more polite," Mandy suggested, sitting down on a rock to think. "We're asking someone not to put their elbows on the table. Why do we do that?"

"If you put your elbows on the table, you can knock over your milk glass and make a mess," Jolena suggested.
"That must be it," Charlotte said, "so it's good to ask someone not to do it."
"Yes," Veronika agreed. "We just need to ask more nicely, so Mabel won't get mad or have her feelings hurt."
"And we should explain why, so Mabel will understand," suggested Charlotte.
The girls thought about it.
"I know!" Mandy cried. "How about this: Mabel, Mabel, if you're able, please don't lean upon the table."
"That's polite," Charlotte said.
Veronika continued, "Dishes on it are not stable!"
And Jolena finished, "They could fall and mess the table."
They all laughed.
"That was fun," Charlotte said. "Now we have a nice way to ask Mabel not to do something that might make a mess."
The dolls went back to jump rope with their new rhyme:

Mabel,  Mabel, if you're able,
please don't lean upon the table.
Dishes on it are not stable.
They could fall and mess the table.

When they were all tired of jumping rope, Jolena suggested they play a game with a ball. They found an old tennis ball one of the dogs had forgotten about, and took it to the driveway.

"If I throw or bounce the ball to you," Jolena explained, "you have to catch it and say the next letter in the alphabet."
When they got to "Z," Veronika sat down in the driveway. "I'm tired!" she said. "Let's go in and watch that movie now."
All the dolls were ready to go back indoors.
"That was fun," said Charlotte. "We learned a lot today."
"We did," agreed Jolena. "We learned how to put up a swing in the backyard."
"We learned to take turns," said Mandy.
"We learned the names of some birds and animals," said Jolena, "and we learned how to make a rhyme more polite."

"We learned a new ball game and practiced our alphabet," Veronika added.
"And I learned to fix my hair as soon as I get up," sighed Charlotte. Then she brightened. "We should play outdoors more often!" she exclaimed.

Cast--

Veronika: Götz Classic Kidz Vroni
Charlotte: Götz Happy Kidz Anna in Paris
Jolena: Götz Happy Kidz Lena in Aspen

Mandy: Götz Happy Kidz Katie 2015

Stellar's Jay photo from National Park Service.

Squirrel photo by Roberto Lisi on Unsplash.

You can follow The Doll's Storybook here.

Do you have questions or comments for us? Would you like to order an autographed copy of one of our books? You can email us at thedollsstorybook@icloud.com.

Note: No dolls were harmed during production of this blog. All dolls shown are Götz Happy Kidz, Classic Kidz or Little Kidz. If you like these stories and are willing, please make a donation of any amount to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital or any organization that supports pediatric cancer research and treatment. We are not affiliated with St. Jude in any way other than these donations.

"The Doll's Storybook" is not affiliated with Gotz Dolls USA Inc. or Götz Puppenmanufaktur International GmbH.
Watch for the next story each Friday afternoon at 1:00 PM Pacific Time.

Mariah: Stories from the Doll's Storybook, Emil: Stories from the Doll's Storybook and soon Classic Tales Retold: Stories from the Doll's Storybook are available from BookBaby and other booksellers worldwide, such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Royalties (net proceeds) go to support pediatric cancer research and treatment. If you don't get free shipping elsewhere, buy from Book Baby. Half of the price goes to St. Jude. Autographed copies of all three books are available from the author for $20 including shipping. (Multiple books to the same address have a discount on shipping.) To inquire, email thedollsstorybook@icloud.com.

Image on Mariah's yellow T-shirt used with permission, from Free To Be Kids, where human-size shirts with this image are available.

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Copyright © 2018 and 2023 by Peggy Stuart

The Last of Summer

The days are getting shorter, and the dolls know that it will soon be cold again. There are some games they would like to play while it's still warm outside. 
"Let's go play outside," said Charlotte. Soon all the dolls were outside in the sunshine.

The first thing Charlotte and Billy did was to play catch with the tennis ball.

Jolena and Mariah decided to ride bicycles. They are happy to have a place to ride where there are no cars.

Later, Billy showed everyone how he had learned to ride a skateboard. He didn't do any fancy tricks, because he didn't have his helmet, and his knee and elbow pads. He just showed them how to balance and make the skateboard roll.

Each of the girls tried Billy's skateboard, while he gave them tips on keeping their balance. It was nice to have a place to use the skateboard where there were no cars. Billy thought it was fun to teach his sisters how to use the skateboard.

Some of the dolls climbed up to play on the backyard play set.
"Watch this!" Billy cried. "I can swing on the monkey rings like a circus act!" He began to climb up the other end of the play set.
The monkey rings are very high up. Billy was not wearing a helmet. I was not wearing elbow and knee pads.
"Be careful, Billy," Veronika cried. "It would be a lot of trouble to have to replace your head!"
Jolena, Mariah and Veronika watched anxiously.

Billy climbed the rope to get up to the monkey rings.

When he reached the monkey rings, he swung from the first ring to the second and hung upside-down from it. His hat fell down to the ground, but he didn't care. He was having fun. He did not fall. He did not break his head. We did not have to replace it.

After he was across to the girls, Billy climbed down and picked up his hat. The other dolls were so relieved that Billy was safe that they each went down the slide, yelling, "Wheeeee!"

Mandy went for a walk on the trail to enjoy the birds and animals. She saw some jaybirds and squirrels. The trail is a safe place where there are always plenty of real people around. Some of them seemed surprised to see a doll walking alone on the trail. Mandy didn't mind.

Mariah and Charlotte spent some time throwing the frisbee in the backyard. They can't throw it very far yet, but their form is good, and they thought it was fun.

While they were doing that, Jolena and Veronika sat in the chairs on the deck. As they sat there, some geese flew over, making honking noises. The big birds flew in a pattern that looked like a big V, with one bird in the front.

When Mandy came back, the dolls all played hide-and-seek together for a while. Each one had a turn being 'it' while the others hid. Each one had a turn counting to 100 before looking for the others.

"What should we do now?" Mariah asked while Mandy, Veronika and Charlotte went to pretend to use the bathroom.
"How about jump rope?" Jolena suggested.
"Or maybe we could play hopscotch," Mariah said.

"I thought jump rope and hopscotch were games for girls," Billy said.

"There are no games just for girls or just for boys," Jolena said. "If girls can play football, boys can play jump rope and hopscotch."

"Girls play football?" Billy asked.
"Some girls do," Mariah said. "It can be dangerous, like some other games," but boys and girls can do it. They just have to learn how to be careful."

"Then I want to learn jump rope and hopscotch," Billy said. "I'm the only boy, and it's more fun to play together than all alone."

When the other dolls came back outside, they all played jump rope. Billy learned how. He thought it was fun. He was glad boys can play jump rope.

Then they played hopscotch. They drew some squares on the pavement with sidewalk chalk. Then they wrote a number in each square. The girls explained the game to Billy. Billy decided that hopscotch is fun, too. He learned that he was good at it.

Soon it was suppertime, so the dolls all went into the house.
"While we pretend to eat supper," Veronika suggested to Mandy, "let's talk with the others about all the fun things we did today."

"Our mouths don't open when we talk," Mandy said, "and they don't open when we pretend to eat. We should be able to eat and talk at the same time."

So the dolls went into the dining room to pretend to eat supper and talk about all the fun things they had done during the day.

Can you remember all the things the dolls did without looking back at the story? See how many you can name. What do you like to do outdoors?



Cast--
Veronika: Götz Classic Kidz Vroni
Mandy: Götz Happy Kidz Katie 2015
Jolena: Götz Happy Kidz Lena in Aspen
Charlotte: Götz Happy Kidz Anna in Paris
Mariah: Götz Happy Kidz Mariah, "Chosen" from My Doll Best Friend
Billy: Götz Happy Kidz Lily at London

There are lots of ways to play hopscotch. Here are some suggestions, if you don't know how.

You can follow The Doll's Storybook here.

Do you have questions or comments for us? Would you like to order an autographed copy of one of our books? You can email us at thedollsstorybook@icloud.com.

Note: No dolls were harmed during production of this blog. All dolls shown are Götz Happy Kidz, Classic Kidz or Little Kidz. If you like these stories and are willing, please make a donation of any amount to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital or any organization that supports pediatric cancer research and treatment. We are not affiliated with St. Jude in any way other than these donations.

"The Doll's Storybook" is not affiliated with Gotz Dolls USA Inc. or Götz Puppenmanufaktur International GmbH.
Watch for the next story each Friday afternoon at 1:00 PM Pacific Time.

Mariah: Stories from The Doll's Storybook, Emil: Stories from The Doll's Storybook, Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook and Our Favorite Verses: Poems from The Doll's Storybook are available from BookBaby and other booksellers worldwide, such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble. 

Author's page on Amazon. 

Royalties (net proceeds) go to support pediatric cancer research and treatment. If you don't get free shipping elsewhere, buy from Book Baby. Half of the price goes to charity (specific information available upon request). Autographed copies of all three books are available from the author. (Multiple books to the same address have a discount on shipping.) To inquire, email thedollsstorybook@icloud.com.

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Copyright © 2019, 2024 by Peggy Stuart

Outdoor Fun

Veronika found the other dolls watching a movie on the iPad. 

"Let's go outdoors," she suggested. 

"We're watching 'Toy Story,'" Jolena said.
"We own that movie," Veronika pointed out. "We can watch it any time. It's a lovely day. Let's go out and play, while the weather is nice."

The dolls climbed down and put on their shoes.
"Wait," cried Charlotte. "I need to fix my hair."

But the others were already out the door, so Charlotte put down the hair brush and hair tie, and ran after them.

She found the others in the back yard. 

Jolena was up in a tree, looking for a place to tie up a swing, while Mandy ran to the garage to get some rope and a board.

Soon they had it all ready to use. Mandy got on the swing first, because everyone thought she should, since she had found the rope and the board to sit on.

Each doll had a turn until they were tired of swinging. After Charlotte had her turn, she ran indoors to fix her hair. "From now on, I will always fix my hair when I first get up," Charlotte told herself. "That way I will be ready for fun outdoors."

"Let's leave the swing up," Mandy suggested after Charlotte came back outdoors. "Maybe we will want to use it again." The others agreed.
"What should we do now?" Jolena asked.
"Let's go for a hike!" Mandy exclaimed. "I love to watch the birds, and sometimes we see interesting animals."
Jolena and Charlotte like to wear sunglasses when they hike, so they went back into the house to get them.

Off they went along the trail. It was nice that there were so many trees to give them shade. Suddenly Mandy stopped. "Look!" she cried. "It's a Stellar Jay! I love to see them. They are pretty and smart."

"They are like you, Mandy," Veronika said. "Only you aren't blue."

Jolena watched a squirrel climb a tree and then fly through the air to land in another tree. "I'm like a squirrel," she told the others. "I can climb trees, and I can fly through the air, if I'm on my skis. Well, I can't climb trees with my skis on, just the flying part."

"What animal am I like," Charlotte asked.

"That's easy," Veronika replied. "You're like the crickets that sing to us in the evening, because you make music with your violin."
Charlotte laughed. "And you're a magpie," she told Veronika. "You scold us for staying indoors to watch a movie, instead of playing outdoors in the fresh air. I'm glad you did. This is so much fun!"

"I know what we should do next," Mandy suggested, after they returned from their hike. "I know we have a jumprope in the toy box. Let's go out to the street and jump rope for a while."

The dolls took the jumprope from the toy box and went out to the front of the house. They found a place where they could play and be safe from cars. It's a parking space in front of the house. No one drives there unless they plan to park.

Charlotte went first. As she jumped, she chanted a little rhyme.
"Mabel, Mabel, well and able,
get your elbows off the table!
This is not a horse's stable,
but a first-class dining table."

"You know," said Veronika when Charlotte's turn was over. "That rhyme is a little rude. It would hurt my feelings if I were Mabel."

"Let's try to change it to be more polite," Mandy suggested, sitting down on a rock to think. "We're asking someone not to put their elbows on the table. Why do we do that?"

"If you put your elbows on the table, you can knock over your milk glass and make a mess," Jolena suggested.
"That must be it," Charlotte said, "so it's good to ask someone not to do it."
"Yes," Veronika agreed. "We just need to ask more nicely, so Mabel won't get mad or have her feelings hurt."
"And we should explain why, so Mabel will understand," suggested Charlotte.
The girls thought about it.

"I know!" Mandy cried. "How about this: Mabel, Mabel, if you're able, please don't lean upon the table."
"That's polite," Charlotte said.
Veronika continued, "Dishes on it are not stable!"
And Jolena finished, "They could fall and mess the table."
They all laughed.
"That was fun," Charlotte said. "Now we have a nice way to ask Mabel not to do something that might make a mess."

The dolls went back to jump rope with their new rhyme:

Mabel,  Mabel, if you're able,
please don't lean upon the table.
Dishes on it are not stable.
They could fall and mess the table.

When they were all tired of jumping rope, Jolena suggested they play a game with a ball. They found an old tennis ball one of the dogs had forgotten about, and took it to the driveway.

"If I throw or bounce the ball to you," Jolena explained, "you have to catch it and say the next letter in the alphabet."

When they got to "Z," Veronika sat down in the driveway. "I'm tired!" she said. "Let's go in and watch that movie now."

All the dolls were ready to go back indoors.
"That was fun," said Charlotte. "We learned a lot today."
"We did," agreed Jolena. "We learned how to put up a swing in the backyard."
"We learned to take turns," said Mandy.
"We learned how to make a rhyme more polite," said Veronika, "and we learned a new ball game and practiced our alphabet."
"And I learned to fix my hair as soon as I get up," exclaimed Charlotte. "We should play outdoors more often!"

Cast--

Veronika: Götz Classic Kidz Vroni
Charlotte: Götz Happy Kidz Anna in Paris
Jolena: Götz Happy Kidz Lena in Aspen

Mandy: Götz Happy Kidz Katie 2015

Note: No dolls were harmed during production of this blog. All dolls shown are Götz Happy Kidz or Classic Kidz. If you like these stories and are willing, please make a donation of any amount to a charity that supports pediatric cancer, such as St. Jude. (Our fundraising page is here.)

“The Doll’s Storybook” is not affiliated with Gotz Dolls USA Inc. or Götz Puppenmanufaktur International GmbH.

Watch for the next story each Friday afternoon at 1:00 PM Pacific Time.

Mariah: Stories from the Doll's Storybook is available from Amazon worldwide. Also available from Barnes & Noble,  BookBaby and other booksellers. Royalties go to support pediatric cancer research and treatment. If you don't have free shipping elsewhere, order from Book Baby. More of the price goes to St. Jude.

Like our Facebook page: The Doll's Storybook

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Copyright © 2018 by Peggy Stuart